Nova Schin WCT Festival 2004 Update

Sunday, November 7, 2004 (Joaquina, Florianopolis, Brazil) Brazil’s reigning world junior champion Adriano de Souza today increased his ever-growing reputation by posting a major upset in the Nova Schin Festival 2004. The US$260,000 Foster’s men’s ASP World Championship Tournament (WCT) relocated more than an hour’s drive further south to Imbituba, where round two was decided. Meanwhile, the world title race between Andy Irons (HAW) and Joel Parkinson (AUS) continues since both won their ‘losers’ round matches.

Strong onshore southeast winds and messy 3ft (1m) surf was on offer this morning at Joaquina. Upon arriving at Imbituba – where six-time world champion Kelly Slater won last year’s Nova Schin Festival — good 4-6 ft (1.5-2m) right and lefthand peaks continued all day. A massive crowd, including Brazilian Tennis legend Gustavo Kuerten, was onsite to enjoy the show.

Souza, the 18-year-old wildcard from Sao Paulo, faced current ratings #9 Jake Paterson (West AUS) this morning and commenced his campaign with a brilliant 8.83 righthander. The diminutive natural footer appeared completely at ease, surfing confidently and executing big maneuvers to lock in another 6.67 ride and create a strong lead. Paterson required a wave worth 8.34 points towards the end, and ultimately suffered a dreaded 33rd place finish. The world junior champ will next face Slater in a highly anticipated third round showdown.

“I’m so happy I won the heat against Jake Paterson, said Souza. “This is my first time in a WCT as a wildcard. I’m sure to have a hard heat next round, but it’s a great experience. I’m the world junior champion, but I want to thank the event for giving me a chance to compete. It’s great to be with all the support from Brazil.

Reigning two-time world champion Andy Irons (Kauai, HAW) almost incurred an interference at the beginning of his clash against local wildcard Ricardo Ortiz. The pair both paddled and stood up on the same initial wave, but as it became a prominent lefthander, the Kauaian was forced to get off and luckily did so before hindering his opponent’s scoring potential. Following this shaky start, the 26-year-old caught a couple of high scoring lefthanders of his own to secure the win. He’ll surf a re-match against round one winner Raphael Becker tomorrow.

“That was so stupid, acknowledged Irons, of the initial situation. “I was watching the rights before our heat started, but then that wave wedged into a perfect left and he was on the inside. I almost made a really big mistake, but luckily I didn’t interfere on his ride. I’m really glad we made the move down here though, as the waves were good. It’s almost exactly the same as it was last year.

Current ratings runner-up Joel Parkinson (AUS) then faced another Brazilian in their national champion Renato Galvao. With all eyes focused on the Australian to see if he could keep the world title race alive, the 23-year-old stamped his authority with two eight plus rides from the outset. ‘Parko’ needs to win the Nova Schin Festival and hope Irons places no higher than fifth for any chance at clinching the title in Hawaii. Wildcard Tanio Barreto (BRA) will challenge him in round three.

“I had a good warm up surf this morning, so I was feeling fairly confident, began Parkinson. “I wasn’t about to give him the title today, and I won’t tomorrow either, so I’m just going to have to keep going. Conditions changed a lot this morning, but I’m glad I got those righthanders at the start.

“I’m just treating this like a normal event, he continued. “I’m not worried about the title race, but I’m not sure how I’ll feel once I get it to Hawaii. If I can continue the race until there, it might start doing me head in (laughs).

Former WCT stars from Brazil, Fabio Gouveia and Renan Rocha, both secured round three berths. Gouveia, one of the most respected surfers to ever emerge from South America, narrowly missed out on re-qualifying for this year’s elite tour, but edged oout Californian Taylor Knox in an extremely slow heat for waves.

“I’m so happy to be in this event and have the chance to compete, said Gouveia. “A lot of surfers dropped out of the contest, so I was really lucky to get a spot. I’m going to try very hard next year to re-qualify for the WCT in 2006, so it’s great to be part of this event and not lose my contact with the guys. That heat was very hard against Taylor as no waves came for a long time. I was lucky he didn’t get another one.

Rocha, who finished equal third last year at Imbituba as a wildcard, overcame a wave-starved Lee Winkler (AUS). He will face another Australian tomorrow morning in last WCT winner Luke Egan.

Other standouts included Australia’s Beau Emerton and Hawaiian Kalani Robb – both receiving 9.33 rides to equal the day’s highest single scores.

Another decision will be made tomorrow morning by 7am, with organizers expecting round three to continue at Imbituba.